15 August 2017

CJ Wildheart - Blood

CJ
Wildheart is a bit of a legend on these pages in more ways than one! One
of the founding members of The Wildhearts, The Jellys and the criminally
underrated Honeycrack (check out their album Proziac, it is amazing), he has
made some fantastic music over the years and is one of the nicest guys I have met in terms of musical heroes. In recent years, he has branched out and started to release solo albums ( side note - he also released one called CJ & The Satellites and I would recommend getting a copy of that one). Whilst we have only been able to review Mable (link to our
review here),
his last album was released in 2016 and called Robot. Whilst we sadly did not review it (sorry CJ), it is also a brilliant record and is a favourite of my old blogging partner, Luke Dunmore. But he has come
back very quickly with his fourth release Blood. The album is
currently only available on PledgeMusic, where you can also purchase some of
his fabled hot sauces and ketchup, together with other bundles and exclusives!
He has gone to town on this and the offers look brilliant (especially that hot
sauce/ketchup combo). But what about the music? Well, according to the
message at the beginning of the pledge, it is full of punk rock angst which is
brought together with melody and riffs. Well, let us see if it keeps that promise......

01 – Tea Leaf

Not that CJ have ever been a man who is shy when it comes to swearing and
introducing a catchy riff, “Tea Leaf”
is a wam-bam, fuck you man to a con-artist who has tried to play CJ as a
fool.It starts off lightly, but then
the punk attitude riffage starts to kick in and it all kicks off as they
say.It is the heaviest I have heard CJ
in an awfully long time, which is never a bad thing.It also reminds me that I should never get on
his bad side……

02 – Gutless

CJ goes for the jugular once again on “Gutless”, with a feisty tune about a
two-faced person who has taken him for a muppet and is learning the hard way that
CJ is not a person to be messed with.It
has a classic punk riff that lynches everything together in a hypnotic way,
with a song that smashes through your speakers and comes out the other end with
a sense that there is more anger to come.I love this one, it is a real ear worm that you will never get tired of
hearing.

03 – Lazybones

“Lazybones” is a song about trying to get your shit together with a massive
kick in the arse, from the perspective of someone on the outside who sees
someone is quite frankly taking the piss.The Punk is still here, but there is a dose of Metal added to the mix as
well.It feels like you are rising and
falling with the riff as it takes you on a frantic journey, flinging you in
multiple directions with relative ease.It is proof positive (as if it was needed) that CJ has got so many riff
and they are all brilliant.A true
highlight for this album.

04 – Beak

“Beak” turns the energy down slightly, but the aggression is still fully on
display as tales of struggling with the fact that someone is acting like a
tool.It is an aggressive number, the
riff is good and it hits all the right beats, plus it has a classic solo in the
middle of it as well!

05 – 50 Percent Indian

A song about his past, “50 Percent Indian”
is all about the racism that CJ experienced when he was younger.It is a hard hitting number, you really feel
for him.It is something that should not
have happened in the first place, but the experience has made for a great
song.It is one that makes you think hard about how bad it can be for people when they are racially abused and
it can also ignite a mini-mosh pit as well, a great number on every level!

06 – Tired of Sex

Sorry, I have tried my best, but I am gonna have to say this…. This one reminds
me an awful lot of the Wildhearts. I know CJ have Wildheart in his name, but I
am trying to focus of his solo work here.This has the feeling of a lost gem that has just been unearthed,
which is not a bad thing to be honest. Considering it is a cover of a Weezer song makes it all the more amazing that it reminds me of the Wildheart!
This to me, shows that he is not trying to deny where he has come from, but he
adds his own sound to the mix on this one with a stomping tune about wanting to make
love and not just have sex.The riff is
loud, the vocals are brilliant and it all comes together in a little punky rock
tune that makes the world go around and around.

07 – Kiss It

And then he does it again with “Kiss It”,
this is a WH song in all but name.It is
a sonic attack and lesson in getting your arse handed to you on a plate and
being made to apologies afterwards.It
is another short, sharp, vicious number that would bite the hands that feed it
will all the fury of an angry viper.It
does not let up one iota and it is over so quick as well, what a song!

08 – Plastic Invasion

A tale bemoaning the modern age and how we communicate with people (in private
and public) on social media, something which is a bit of a hot topic in place
as people just want to connect with a human and not with a machine.It is sometimes nice just to have a break
from the constant information stream that we receive, which can desensitise us
to other people and their feelings.I also
appreciate the irony of this song in a way, as I am currently typing this on a
laptop but that is beside the point here.It is strong number, it has natural lulls and a manic bridge section
that is one of the heaviest passage of the album, as the guitar sounds like a
thunderous machine.What more would you
want from this song

09 – Itch

We have reached the penultimate song with “Itch”,
a tune that I would like to say is open to interpretation.Musically it is another punk/metal stomper,
one that is as good as anything that has come before it on the album.I love the energy on this one, it is such a
grower that it will become a centre piece on any forthcoming shows that CJ
might have lined up!

10 – Lost in The Game

CJ ends Blood with “Lost in The Game“ which thankfully keeps
up the energy that has been central to this album.There is not a party feeling to this song, it
is not euphoric in any way, but it does feel like it is going to march to the
gates and start a fight by itself.It is
a loud number, one that does not give two fucks about what anyone things as it
tears its way your speakers that you have just reassembled after the last nine songs.If
you are going to make a terminally pissed off album, I cannot think of a better
way to end it – well done CJ, well done!

The thing I love about Blood is that
CJ is embracing the future as well as acknowledging the past as well, something
that some people are not able to do with ease.Blood is a punky/metal little
upstart of a record, one that makes the angry teenager in me excited and wanted
to bounce around with youthful exuberance.Time will tell where this falls in his overall discography, but for me
this is his best work out of his recent solo album.It just hits all the spots that you want from
a CJ record: it has attitude, style and above all – kick ass tunes that make the world
a better place just for being in existence. There is no downside here, the only thing is
that I wish it was slightly longer; but that is a personal thing as I did not
want the album to end. I would recommend
you join the pledge campaign, it gets the funds straight to the artist and it
makes a lot of difference!

Welcome to the final round-up review of 2017! Similar to the Round-Up posts I put up earlier in the year, I’m going to be posting some bull...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens